The Weird Week in Review

Bandit Came Back

Drusilla's Park is a zoo in East Sussex, England. On April 26th, there was a breakout when two raccoons escaped into the surrounding neighborhood. Turpin was found in another area of the park a week later and returned to her enclosure. But her sister Bandit remained at large until she suddenly was seen back in her enclosure when a zookeeper made an evening nose count. She had returned on her own! Bandit's identity was confirmed by a scan of her embedded microchip. She apparently found that the grass was not greener on the other side of the fence.

Teenager Hacks House Arrest Sentence

An unnamed 16-year-old boy was sentenced to a juvenile curfew for conspiracy to commit burglary in Gloucester, England. He was fitted with an electronic ankle bracelet so his movements could be monitored. But when the security company set up the monitor—over the phone—he had an idea to get around the business of staying in his home.

The teenager was asked over the phone by an official from G4S to walk around the perimeter of his home so they could map the curfew zone they had to monitor.

But the quick-thinking lad decided to give himself a lot more freedom – by running as fast as he could down the road and back.

His speedy dash meant that the G4S official inadvertently gave him a much bigger area to roam around during his curfew hours.

Normally a criminal who is electronically tagged has to stay indoors or in the immediate garden area of his home during curfew hours.

The 16 year-old's ploy meant he could still venture down the road without triggering the tag.

The scheme was only uncovered about five weeks later, when the delinquent's landlady reported him not in the home. The security company had not received any alarms from the anklet bracelet, so they investigated and found out what he'd done to increase his restricted area.

Caught by the Ghost Cam

A woman in Tasmania pled guilty to five counts of sex with a minor after she was caught in the act with her boyfriend's 16-year-old son. She explained that she mistakenly thought 16 was the age of consent. But the real kicker is how they were caught. The boy's father had set up a camera to catch suspected "paranormal activity" in the home, and left it on all the next day while he was at work. When he reviewed the recording, he saw his partner kissing and cuddling his son. So instead of paranormal activity, the camera caught normal, but illegal, activity.

Dog is Rescued While Rescuing a Kitten

An animal control officer in Anderson, South Carolina, responded to a call about a barking dog. When Michelle Smith went to investigate, she found a tiny Shih Tzu- mix barking in a ravine. Smith climbed down the embankment, which she says the dog could have easily climbed out of herself, and found out why the dog was there. She was nursing a tiny kitten! The animal shelter director said the 5-year-old dog likely started producing milk because of a surge of hormones when she found the kitten. The dog is obviously a pet, and the shelter is hoping the owner will come forward and take the kitten, too. See a video of the two.

Tourists Rescued After Dining on Iceberg

Sunday afternoon, four American tourists in Iceland decided to picnic on an ice floe in the Fjallsárlón glacial lagoon. But that was not a great idea, as they discovered when the ice they were sitting on started floating away! Páll Sigurður Vignisson, a member of the rescue crew, said a sudden gust of wind had pushed the ice about ten meters away from the shore. One of the tourists was able to jump back before the ice drifted too far, and called emergency services. Vignisson said, "When we arrived it was quite comical to see them sitting on chairs and with a table on an iceberg ... Yes the dinner was over." The moral of the story: dining on iceberg may be hazardous; try romaine instead.

Inflated Hedgehog

A hedgehog in Bude, Cornwall, England, was taken to the vet because he was so big and round that he couldn't walk or curl up. Veterinary staff were puzzled, because the huge hedgehog was of normal weight. An x-ray (which you have to see) revealed that the animal was, indeed, inflated. Veterinary surgeon Adam Revitt said he had never seen a case of "balloon syndrome" before. It occurs when bacteria get into a wound and create gas that lifts the skin from the animal. Revitt used a syringe to slowly deflate the hedgehog over about five minutes. The animal is now on antibiotics and is recovering nicely.

Also on Mental Floss:

DID YOU KNOW? Marlon Brando hated memorizing lines so much that he posted cue cards everywhere to help him get through scenes.
He even asked for lines to be written on an actress's posterior. (That request was denied.)